Drawing to stay sane...
Hello and welcome to my crazy cartoon world! My name is Zara M. I'm a writer, cartoonist and illustrator based in the UK. I live in a cottage with my dog, my cat, and a mental illness.
Professional Journey...
I have an educational background in creative writing. I studied English Literature, Psychology, and Art at A Level, and went on to study BA English Literature at Westminster University of London, which was a mental health disaster – I studied for 4 years, if you can call it that, and finally made my way out of that dark tunnel with a DipHE. Later on, I went back to study as a mature student and completed my BA Film & Media at Birkbeck University of London, then started a Master's in Screenwriting. Unfortunately, I could only afford to complete half of the two-year course, so I achieved a Postgraduate Certificate instead.
Alongside the usual retail, pub, and cafe waitressing gigs, I ran my own portfolio of small creative businesses; mostly, making stuff and looking after puppies. I decided it was time to focus on freelance writing, as I have always dreamt of being a professional writer. I was later employed full-time as a professional SEO writer and then a content writer on lifestyle publications.
After one too many redundancies and feeling completely burnt out, I decided to focus on my recovery while developing a year-long daily diary comics project that explores mental health themes such as tapering off an antidepressant and dealing with unexpected protracted withdrawal.
Work with me...
I am available for creative collaborations and commissions – if they involve a combination of writing and drawing.
I want to develop a body of published cartoons and illustrative work, including single-panel cartoons and comic strips, long-form graphic personal essays and illustrated features, as well as editorial illustrations and drawn journalism.
I am particularly interested in longer projects and commissions, such as visual columns, ongoing short narrative comic strips, illustrated non-fiction books and graphic novels/memoirs.
If you like my style and would like to work with me or commission a piece or two, please get in touch!
I began drawing cartoons to process my feelings after being diagnosed with Cyclothymic Disorder (with EUPD traits). Later, I used cartoons to express how I felt when unemployed and struggling to find work. Most recently, I have been drawing a daily diary comic for a whole year, to navigate my experience of being on (and tapering off) antidepressants, after burnout and redundancy.
My cartoons and comics have become a creative and cathartic outlet. I love how drawing enables me to connect with people through shared lived experience and not feel so alone.
My work comments not only on mental health issues, but also on what it's like to be a human being living in the world today. I hope there is something in my stories and art that everyone and anyone can relate to.
Now that my diary comics project is coming to an end, I am beginning to think about connecting with agents and publishers to pitch it as a mental health graphic memoir. Meanwhile, I am busy carving out a new creative niche for myself as a cartoonist and illustrator – again, alongside making stuff and anything else that might help pay to feel myself and my menagerie!